Not so long ago, UNBOWED released the single “Won’t Someone Think Of The Children” with very catchy lyrics and an accompanying video that gives an in-depth look at your perspective on the future. You want to add something to that?
““Won’t Someone Think Of The Children” confronts how this phrase is weaponized to justify surveillance, control, and discrimination. We were specifically inspired by events in Southport (UK) that showed how child protection rhetoric can be twisted to incite hatred and violence against migrants. The song challenges the hypocrisy of those who claim to protect children while simultaneously supporting policies that harm their future – whether through environmental destruction, erosion of civil liberties, or fostering a climate of fear and division. As a band, we believe in calling out this manipulation for what it is. The video we created deliberately juxtaposes images of real threats to children’s future – climate crisis, surveillance state expansion, social inequality – against the manufactured moral panics that dominate headlines. We wanted to highlight how genuine concerns for child welfare are cynically exploited to advance authoritarian agendas. What makes this especially relevant now is how we’re seeing this rhetoric increasingly used to justify digital surveillance and restrictions on civil liberties. The song asks listeners to think critically about who really benefits when ‘protecting children’ is used to justify harmful policies.”
On December 13th, UNBOWED’s first full-length album “Silent Weapons For A Quiet War” will be out, only five months after the release of the EP “First Uprising” that already contained eight tracks. Do you write new songs that quick and easily?
“The timeline might seem quick from the outside, but it reflects an intense period of creativity and focus. Most of the tracks for “First Uprising” were written between late 2023 and March 2024. While we were recording those songs, we were already deep in the writing process for new material. It’s not so much about speed, it’s about having a clear vision and message that needs to be expressed. When you’re dealing with urgent topics and have something important to say, the creative process can be very focused and purposeful.”
The title “Silent Weapons For A Quiet War” is excellent food for discussion, but it’s not really about armed conflicts, is it? Please explain what you mean by it.
“The title refers to methods of social control and manipulation that operate beneath the surface of everyday life. These ‘silent weapons’ aren’t physical – they’re economic, psychological, and social tools used to shape society without obvious force. Think about how debt keeps people trapped, how media shapes our perceptions, or how data collection is used to influence our behavior. These are the real ‘weapons’ being deployed in a ‘quiet war’ that most people don’t even realize is being fought. It’s about making visible what’s designed to remain invisible. At the moment we see these tools used to push society into a culture war that distracts from real problems. We believe many of today’s so-called ‘leftist struggles’ are often stoked by the wealthy and influential and only serve as smokescreens to keep people focused on debates that offer little real change. Issues like gender or cultural appropriation can become endless cycles that fuel division and keep the public from addressing deeper systemic problems. The last time we saw a unified push against these oppressive structures was during the Occupy Wall Street movement. Especially since the end of the Occupy Wall Street movement, we’ve noticed that strawmen issues from the movement’s fringe have been amplified in mass media, reframed as so-called ‘leftist struggles’. This shift feels deliberate, almost as if to prevent any resurgence of a unified, anti-capitalist movement. Issues like gender debates or cultural appropriation have become inflated distractions that divide people and alienate the middle class from leftist values, moving the focus away from the systemic root: capitalism itself. The true enemy here is the capitalist system, and we believe that any leftist critique must keep the class struggle at its core to confront the very structures that feed inequality and oppression.”
When Percival sent me the music files of the new album, the first thing I noticed was that every song has its own thumbnail. Who made those and why did you do this?
“We create them using various AI tools, which might sound controversial, but as a small band without major financial backing, we’ve found these tools allow us to create visually compelling content that effectively communicates our message. While some might criticize the use of AI tools, we see it as a way to challenge the traditional gatekeeping of artistic expression. Why should only bands with major label budgets have access to professional visuals? We’re reclaiming these tools for independent artists and using them to amplify our message of resistance. After “First Uprising”, when Salva fully joined us initially to help with production and mixing (more about that later on), we really expanded our visual capabilities – he’s particularly skilled with these tools. We use similar techniques for our music videos too. It has become an exciting creative process for us, trying to capture each song’s essence in a single image. In today’s visually-driven music landscape, these tools are a way for us to deliver high quality visual content that reinforces our message without compromising our DIY ethos or breaking the bank.”
On the back cover of the album, the track list starts with “We Need A Stone”, then there’s a chapter called “The Quiet War Complex” that contains eight songs. Are they all related and what connects them?
““We Need A Stone” opens the album deliberately – it’s a song with a clear, universal message that stands on its own and serves as an entry point for listeners. Anyone can connect with its message, regardless of their familiarity with the deeper themes that follow. “The Quiet War Complex” is the heart of the album – it started with the track “Silent Weapons For A Quiet War” as an overview, but we quickly realized that one song couldn’t capture the full scope of these control mechanisms. The complex follows the structure of the leaked document ‘Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars: An Introductory Programming Manual’, examining its concepts through eight interconnected tracks, each diving deeper into how society is manipulated through economic, social, and psychological means. The complex concludes with “Between Knowing And Disbelief,” which challenges listeners to confront what they’ve learned. The remaining tracks then demonstrate how these ’silent weapons’ manifest in real-world scenarios. “Won’t Someone Think Of The Children” exposes how child protection rhetoric is weaponized for control. “DoublePlus Truth” examines how language itself becomes a weapon through corporate jargon and politically correct speech that obscures reality. “99 Percent”, inspired by Occupy Wall Street, shows how economic inequality is maintained through these systems, while “ATLAS” unveils how think tanks and powerful organizations actively shape global policies to maintain control. These final tracks essentially take the theoretical framework laid out in the “The Quiet War Complex” and show it in action, making the invisible visible through concrete examples.”
The song titles on “Silent Weapons For A Quiet War” are very intriguing. Take for example “We Need A Stone” or “Confused And Amused”. Who comes up with these titles and who writes the lyrics for them?
“All the lyrics and titles come from me. Usually, I write the full lyrics first, either with a working title or no title at all, and the final title emerges from the completed text. Take “We Need A Stone” for example, it’s based on Marx’s quote about Criticism and Action, and that particular phrase from the lyrics felt perfect as a title, especially given the political connotations of stone-throwing in German protest culture. (“The weapon of criticism obviously cannot replace the criticism of weapons. Material force must be overthrown by material force. But theory also becomes a material force once it has gripped the masses.” – Karl Marx). Many other titles, particularly in the “The Quiet War Complex,” come directly from the source document we based those songs on.”
Let’s talk about the music. The majority of the songs on “Silent Weapons For A Quiet War” breathe the atmosphere of melodic death metal, but still you do not shun to toss in some punkrock (“E-Model Industry”) and even a rap (“The 4th Law Of Motion”). Why all these different styles on one album?
“Our diverse sound comes naturally from our different musical backgrounds, and after “First Uprising” we consciously decided to embrace these variations more boldly. On an album dealing with complex themes, having this musical diversity helps maintain engagement and prevents monotony. Take “E-Model Industry”, it moves from a punk-influenced, aggressive opening to a slower, heavy chorus. Or “The 4th Law Of Motion,” which starts with almost black metal intensity before transitioning into spoken word sections and then into a groovy death metal chorus. We’ve also been influenced by bands like Rage Against The Machine, especially their way of using repetitive, slogan-like phrases to drive home a message, which I used in the titel track and songs like “Confused And Amused”. It was important for us to show we can do more than just write the same song fifteen times with different lyrics. Each style shift serves the song’s message and keeps the listener engaged with the larger narrative we’re telling. Our diverse musical styles are also a conscious rejection of capitalist homogenization. Just as resistance against oppression takes many forms, our sound refuses to be constrained by the restrictive boxes of genre. This eclecticism reflects the many voices rising up against an unjust social order.”
Besides the screams and the growls, you also have a nice clean vocal. You demonstrate that for example on my favourite song “General Energy Concepts”, “Programmed Consent” and on the very surprising “Between Knowing And Disbelief”. How do you decide where to use these different vocal styles?
“On our first EP “First Uprising” we only had one song with clean vocals, “Somebody Tell Me”. It was quite different from the other tracks, but it became possibly the most popular song on the EP. This encouraged us to incorporate more clean vocals on the album. The decision of where to use clean vocals really comes down to what serves each song best, whether we want to emphasize a particularly melodic chorus or create dynamic contrast between sections. Clean vocals often represent moments of clarity or revelation within the broader narrative. I’ll be honest, I don’t consider myself an exceptional clean singer in the traditional sense, but we’ve found ways to make it work through
“What we’ve created is a concept album that delves deep into mechanisms of social control and resistance.”
– VOX INFERNUM –
production techniques like doubling tracks and other enhancements. I’m completely open about this because what matters most to me is effectively conveying the message of our lyrics. That’s also why even in my usual growling style, I make sure the lyrics remain intelligible.”
The last track on the album is a bonus track titled “Bella Unbowed”. The lyrics are in Italian. Maybe you should explain what they are about.
“The original “Bella Ciao” began as a song of Italian field workers protesting their working conditions, later becoming a powerful anti-fascist anthem during World War II. Our version carries forward that spirit of resistance against oppression, which aligns perfectly with UNBOWED‘s message and values. “Bella Unbowed” is our reimagining of “Bella Ciao” and it’s quite different from the cover version we previously released on YouTube. While that version stayed closer to the original melody, this one is completely transformed into UNBOWED‘s style, though it maintains the original’s spirit. Reimagining “Bella Ciao” was a way for us to link our struggle to the long lineage of working-class resistance movements. This song has traveled from the fields of Italy to the barricades of antifascist uprisings, and now it finds a home in our arsenal of sonic weaponry against the forces of global capital. We chose to include it as a Bandcamp-exclusive bonus track, since we had recorded both versions and wanted to also share this more experimental take.”
Personally, I think you’ve made one hell of an album that I would without hesitation recommend to any Arch Enemy fan. Not only for the music, but also your voice has many similarities with that of Alissa White-Gluz. But how would you promote it?
“Thank you so much! It’s an honor to be compared to Arch Enemy and Alissa White-Gluz – her voice and presence are truly powerful, so that’s high praise. If I had to pitch our album, I’d say it’s where Arch Enemy meets Rage Against The Machine – combining melodic death metal’s intensity with direct politically charged, revolutionary messages. But beyond musical comparisons, what we’ve created is a concept album that delves deep into mechanisms of social control and resistance. As a small independent band, our greatest asset is actually our listeners – when they share our music on social media or recommend us to friends, it makes a huge difference. That kind of grassroots support is exactly what we need to get our message out there. If someone enjoys what we’re doing and wants to support us, simply sharing our music is the most powerful way to help us grow.”
Perci told me that you have a new band member named Salva on synthesizer and keyboards. He already helped you out with the mixing and production before, so he’s not a stranger. Is he going to influence the sound of UNBOWED?
“Salva’s journey with UNBOWED actually started through Aetherius, initially helping us with artwork and videos for our first EP. When we began to work on the album, he came in to support Aetherius with mixing and mastering. But it quickly became apparent that he deeply connected with our message and had valuable input for the songwriting process. He started contributing parts to the songs, and since Aetherius preferred to focus on guitar, it felt natural to bring Salva on as a full member. His influence extends beyond just keyboards and synths – he’s actually played a major role in shaping our visual identity as a band. When you look at our music videos and artwork, you’re seeing a lot of his creative visions come to life.”
And finally the big question: will we see UNBOWED on the European stages after the release of “Silent Weapons For A Quiet War”?
“For now, UNBOWED will continue primarily as a studio project. There are several practical challenges we face regarding live performances. First, our members are spread across different parts of Germany, which makes regular rehearsals quite challenging. Additionally, when composing and recording our songs, we’ve never limited ourselves by considering live playability, we’ve focused purely on creating the best possible studio versions. Many of our tracks feature multiple guitar layers, intricate keyboard parts, and complex vocal arrangements that would require extensive use of backing tracks to reproduce live with our current lineup. Given our geographical situation, it would be extremely difficult to achieve the level of tightness needed to perform professionally with backing tracks. We also currently lack a dedicated live drummer, as Percival handles both bass and drums in the studio. Rather than compromise our artistic vision or deliver a subpar live experience, we’ve decided to maintain our focus on creating the best possible studio recordings. While we never say never for the foreseeable future, UNBOWED will remain primarily focused on studio work.” ■